Credit card system having means for sensing if object is living

ABSTRACT

A system for identifying the user of a credit card or the like, wherein a predetermined portion of the living body, such as a finger or a hand, of the user of a card is used for identification of the user. The system is provided with means for checking whether the object presented by the user of a card is the predetermined portion of the living body of the user so that any fraudulent use of an object simulating the portion of a human body can be prevented.

iinited States Patent Yaida et a1.

CREDIT CARD SYSTEM HAVING 156] References Cited LIVING 3,576,538 4/1971Miller ..340/149 A Inventors: Koichi Yaida, Osaka; Shizuya Ano, Kyoto,

both of Japan Primary Examiner-Harold l. Pitts Assignee: Omron TateisiElectronics Co., Kyoto, Anamey chnstensen Sanbom Matthews Japan 57ABSTRACT Ffled: 1970 A system for identifying the user of a credit cardor the like, Appl. No.: 92,977 wherein a predetermined portion of theliving body, such as a finger or a hand, of the user of a card is usedfor identification of the user. The system is provided with means forchecking (g1 ..340/l49:5/g/163 whether the object presented y the userof a card is the q predetermined portion of the living body of the userso that Field of Search .,340/149 A, 149

any fraudulent use of an ob ect simulating the portion of a 1 human bodycan be prevented.

6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures \I pMSAT/fl/V 4 \AMZ 05 70- J/PCU/T 6147fCAPD 247406)?) If h-fl 43 rm/P424 7a,?

CREDIT CARD SYSTEM HAVING MEANS FOR SENSING IF OBJECT IS LIVING Thisinvention relates to a system for identifying the user of a credit cardor the like.

In recent years credit cards or bank cards have been in wide use invarious fields of our economic life, for example, to purchase articlesof merchandise from shops or deposit or withdraw money from or to abank. It is necessary to make some evidence of such transactions and ithas hitherto been customary that the user of a card sign on a slip toserve as an evidence of the transaction. However, in transactions withan automatic vending machine or an automatic cash dispensing machine, itis impossible to check whether the user of a card hasd uly signed a slipor not. Instead of signature, a fingerprint of the user of a card may beused as an evidence of a transaction made with the card. Also, in orderto check whether the card has been used by its proper owner or not, ithas been proposed to identify the user of a card by means of the area ofthe palm or the characteristic of a fingerprint of the user. In thismethod, each card has recorded thereon the area of the palm or thecharacteristic feature of the fingerprint of a predetermined finger ofthe proper owner of the card, and the vending machine or cash dispensingmachine is provided with means for measuring the area of the palm orcheck the characteristic of the fingerprint of each user of the machine,so that when a card has been used in the machine, the area of the palmor the characteristic of the fingerprint recorded on the card iscollated with the area of the palm or the characteristic of thefingerprint actually presented by the user of the card, therebydetermining whether the user of the card is its proper owner. 7 In theabove-mentioned prior art methods, however, even when an objectsimulating the palm of fingerprint of the owner of a card isfraudulently used, a slip has been made as an evidence of thetransaction, or the improper user of the card has been erroneouslyrecognized as its proper owner.

Accordingly, the primary object of the invention is to provide anidentification system which is capable of correctly identifying the userof a credit card or the like in an automatic vending machine or thelike.

Another object of the invention is to provide such an identificationsystem as aforesaid which is provided with means for checking whetherthe object presented by the user of acard for identification ispredetermined portion of the living body of the user such as a hand or afinger.

Another object of the invention is to provide such an identificationsystem as aforesaid wherein the checking means relies on the electricalresistance of the object presented by the user of a card for determiningwhether the object is a predetermined portion of the living body of theuser.

Another object of the invention is to provide such an identificationsystem as aforesaid wherein the checking means detects the pulsation ofthe object presented by the user of a card for determination of whetherthe object is the predeter mined portion of the living body of the user.

Still another object of the invention is to provide such 'anidentification system as aforesaid which is provided with means fortaking a fingerprint of the user of a card ofon a slip of paper to bekept as an evidence of the transaction.

A further object of the invention is to provide such an identificationsystem as aforesaid which is provided with means for measuring the areaof the palm of the user of a card for identification of the user.

The invention with its features and advantages will become apparent fromthe following description of some preferred embodiments thereof withreference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. I is a diagram of one embodiment of the invention which is providedwith means for taking a fingerprint of the user of a credit card or thelike on a slip of pressure sensitive paper to serve as an evidence ofthe transaction;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the hole in FIG. I in which a predeterminedfinger of the user ofa card is to be put;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of another embodiment of the invention whereinidentification of the user of a card depends on the area of the palm ofahand of the user ofa card;

FIG. 4 is a detailed circuit diagram of a block in FIG. 3', and

FIG. 5 is a diagram similar to FIG. 3 but showing a third embodiment ofthe invention.

Referring to the drawings, first to FIG. I, there is shown a casing wall11 of, say, an automatic vending machine. In the casing wall II there isformed a circular window or hole 12 having a diameterjust enough for afinger tip of a human being to be put into. Inside the window 12 of apair of diametrically opposed electrodes 13 are disposed, beneath whicha pressure sensitive plate 14 is positioned to form a bottom of the hole12. A sheet of pressure sensitive paper 15 is withdrawn from a roll 16and passed beneath the electrodes 13 and over the plate 14 to be woundonto a takeup roll 21.

When a user of the machine puts his or her finger tip into the hole 12,it contacts the two electrodes 13, whereupon the electrodes areconnected via a resistance provided by the finger, so that a resistancemeasuring circuit 17 operates. The arrangement is such that without anyfinger interposed between the electrodes 13, the resistance therebetweenis higher than 1 megohm and that when a metallic object is put betweenthe electrodes, the resistance therebetween drops below 500 ohms.Therefore, when a resistance over 1 megohm is measured, it indicatesthat no finger is put into the hole 12, while when the resistance hasdropped be1ow 500 ohms, it indicates the presence of a metallic objectbetween the electrodes 13. When a resistance as high as that of a humanfinger has been detected, the circuit 17 produces an output to beapplied to a gate circuit 18 and a motor driving circuit 20.

When the user pressure his or her finger tip in the hole against thepressure sensitive paper 15, the fingerprint is recorded on the paper.At the same time, the pressure is applied to the pressure sensitiveelement 14, so that the element 14 produces an output to be applied tothe gate circuit 18. When the gate 18 receives the signal from thecircuit 17 and the signal from the element 14 at the same time, itproduces an output. This output signal may be used to actuate, say, acontrol circuit not shown but provided in an automatic vending machineto control the dispensation of an article.

When the finger tip is withdrawn out of the hole 12, the signal from thecircuit 17 disappears, whereupon the motor drivingcircuit 20 energizes amotor 19 to turn the roll 21 so that a length of the sheet of pressuresensitive paper 15 equal to just one slip is automatically wound ontothe roll 21.

Before putting his or her finger tip into the hole 12, the userintroduces his or her card into the machine through an inlet slot notshown and the card is conveyed to a data printing device 22. The cardhas necessary information ordata em bossed thereon, and the embodimentis pressed against the pressure sensitive paper 15 by a well'knowndevice, not shown, to transfer the data onto the paper. A date printer23 is provided in the device 22 to which a signal is applied through aline 24, so that the printer 23 prints on the sheet of paper 15 the dateon which the card is used; Thus, the paper 15 has recorded thereon thefingerprint of the user of the card as an evidence that the user hasactually used the card and the date of the transaction and othernecessary data.

Turning to FIG. 3 which shows an arrangement for identifying the ownerof the card by the area of the palm of his or her hand, the machine hasa front wall 3I in which a notch or recess 33 is formed. When using themachine, the user is requested to put his or her hand into the recess33. A light source 35is provided above the recess 33, the bottom wall ofwhich is defined by a photosensitive device 36. Normally the source 35projects light over the whole sensitive area of the device 36.- When ahand is placed on the device, however, part of the light is interceptedby the hand, and it is possible to measure the area of the hand from theamount of light received by the device 36. The output from the device 36corresponding to the amount of light it has received is converted by ananalog-to-digital converter 39 to a digitalvalue, which is applied to agate circuit 41.

IOIOZI 0770' Another light source 37 is provided beyond the inner end ofthe recess 33 so that the light from the source 37 is projected onto thetip of a finger of the hand. The light reflected by the finger tip isreceived by a photosensor 38, which produces an output to be applied toa living body detector 40. As will be described later in detail, whenthe detector 40 has recognized the object in the recess 33 as a livingobject, it produces an output to be applied as a gate signal to the gatecircuit 41, whereupon the output from the converter 39 is allowed topass through the gate 41 to be applied as one input to a comparator 42.A card reader 43 reads the information on the card introduced into themachine. The information recorded on the card includes the area of thepalm of a predetermined hand of the proper owner of the card, and thecar reader applies a digital value corresponding to the area of the palmread from the card as the other input to the comparator 42. The comparator compares this digital value and the digital value from theconverter 39, and if the two values are equal, the person which has hisor her hand placed in the recess 33 is recognized as the proper owner ofthe card and the comparator 42 produces a corresponding output signal.

Since the hand placed in the recess 33 is a part of a living human body,it naturally has pulsation, so that the amount of light reflected by thefinger tip varies at a frequency corresponding to the frequency of thepulsation as is well known in the technique of measuring pulsation. Ifany other thing than a living body is placed in the recess 33, no cyclicdamage occurs in the amount of reflected light entering the photosensor38. Therefore, by detecting whether the output from the photosensor 38shows a predetermined cyclic change or not it is possible to determinewhether the object placed in the recess 33 is a living body or not. Thedetector 40 is a pulsation detecting circuit for detecting the cyclicchange of the output from the photosensor 38.

FIG. 4 shows a concrete circuit arrangement of the detector 40. Thephotosensor 38 is connected across a resistor 45 through an electricsource 44. The voltage drop across the resistor 45 varies with thecyclic change of the amount of light received by the photosensor 38. Thecyclic variation of the voltage drop is amplified by an alternatingcurrent amplifier 46. The output from the amplifier is rectified by adiode 47 and smoothed by a smoothing circuit 48 to be applied to aswitching circuit 49. If there is no pulsating change in the amount oflight received by the photosensor 38, there is no correspondingpulsating change in the output of the amplifier 46 so that the switchingcircuit 49 does not produce any output. On the contrary, if there is apulsating change in the amount of light received by the photosensor 38,the amplifier 46 produces a corresponding pulsating output so that thecircuit 49 produces an output to be applied as a gate signal to the gatecircuit 41 in FIG. 3. Thus, it is possible to detect whether the objectplaced in the recess 33 is a hand of a living human body or not.

Instead of the area of the hand, the characteristic of the fingerprintof a predetermined one of the fingers of the user of a card may be usedto identify the user by replacing the element 36 in FIG. 3 by awell-known fingerprint detector.

Turning to FIG. 5 which shows a modification of the arrangement of FIG.3, the same reference numerals in FIG. 5 as in the other figures denotecorresponding pans. While in FIG. 3 pulsation is utilized to confirm theliving human body, in FIG. 5 the electric resistance of the finger isutilized for the same purpose. To this end, near the inner end of therecess 33 a pair of spaced electrodes 13 are provided on the uppersurface of the photosensitive device 36 so that when the hand is placedon the device 36, the tip of, say, the middle finger touches the twoelectrodes 13. The resistance between the electrodes is measured by theresistance measuring circuit 17 just as in FIG. 1 and when a resistancebetween 500 ohms and l megohm has been measured, the circuit 17 producesan output to be applied a gate signal to the gate 41. The operation ofthe other circuit elements in FIG. 5 is the same as in FIG. 3, so thatno further description will be necessary.

What we claim is: 1. A system for identifying the user of a credit cardand the like, comprising: means for receiving a predetermined portion ofa living human body; means for checking whether an object presented by auser of a card for identification and received in said receiving meansis said predetermined portion of a living human body to produce anoutput signal when said object is recognized as said predeterminedportion; and means operable in response to said output signal torecognize said user as the proper owner of said credit card.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said checking means relies on theelectric resistance of said object received in said receiving means fordetermination of whether said object is said predetermined portion of aliving human body.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said checking means re lies on thepresence or absence of the pulsation of said object received in saidreceiving means for determination of whether said object is saidpredetermined portion of a living human body.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein said checking means includes a pair ofspaced electrodes arranged to be connected via said object received insaid receiving means and means for measuring the electrical resistancebetween said electrodes.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein said checking mans includes a sourceof light for projecting light onto said object received in saidreceiving means, a photosensor for receiving the light reflected by saidobject to produce an output corresponding to the amount of lightreceived and means for detecting in said output a pulsating changecorresponding to the pulsation of a living human body.

6. The system of claim I. wherein said receiving means comprises arecess for receiving therein a hand of the user of the card; and saidchecking means comprises means for measuring the area of the palm ofsaid hand, and means for comparing the measured area with that area ofthe palm of the proper owner of the card used which is previouslyrecorded on the card to produce an output when said two areas aresubstantially equal.

1. A system for identifying the user of a credit card and the like,comprising: means for receiving a predetermined portion of a livinghuman body; means for checking whether an object presented by a user ofa card for identification and received in said receiving means is saidpredetermined portion of a living human body to produce an output signalwhen said object is recognized as said predetermined portion; and meansoperable in response to said output signal to recognize said user as theproper owner of said credit card.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein saidchecking means relies on the electric resistance of said object receivedin said receiving means for determination of whether said object is saidpredetermined portion of a living human body.
 3. The system of claim 1,wherein said checking means relies on the presence or absence of thepulsation of said object received in said receiving means fordetermination of whether said object is said predetermined portion of aliving human body.
 4. The system of claim 2, wherein said checking meansincludes a pair of spaced electrodes arranged to be connected via saidobject received in said receiving means and means for measuring theelectrical resistance between said electrodes.
 5. The system of claim 3,wherein said checking mans includes a source of light for projectinglight onto said object received in said receiving means, a photosensorfor receiving the light reflected by said object to produce an outputcorresponding to the amount of light received and means for detecting insaid output a pulsating change corresponding to the pulsation of aliving human body.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein said receivingmeans comprises a recess for receiving therein a hand of the user of thecard; and said checking means comprises means for measuring the area ofthe palm of said hand, and means for comparing the measured area withthat area of the palm of the proper owner of the card used which ispreviously recorded on the card to produce an output when said two areasare substantially equal.